purse
- a woman's handbag or pocketbook.
- a small bag, pouch, or case for carrying money.
- anything resembling a purse in appearance, use, etc.
- a sum of money offered as a prize or reward.
- a sum of money collected as a present or the like.
- money, resources, or wealth.
- to contract into folds or wrinkles; pucker: to purse one's lips.
- to put into a purse.
Origin of purse
Examples from the Web for pursed
Contemporary Examples of pursed
Who was this girl with the pursed lips, perfect eyebrows, and a dry nosebleed?
His black hair sweeps back from the crest of his high forehead and laps at the nape of his neck; his lips are pursed.
Friends saw the danger signs—the pursed lips, the extra quick blink of the eye.
Historical Examples of pursed
The Cherub pursed his fat round lips in a soft whistle of enlightenment.
ThoroughbredsW. A. Fraser
David smiled back at her, and then, with a sudden recollection, pursed his lips.
Tiverton TalesAlice Brown
"Why—" Her eyes clouded; she pursed her lips over the conjectural annoyance.
The Black BagLouis Joseph Vance
Mrs Gamp shook her head mysteriously, and pursed up her lips.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
Her lips pursed as if to spit venom at the word; pursed they remained.
Monday or TuesdayVirginia Woolf
purse
- a small bag or pouch, often made of soft leather, for carrying money, esp coins
- US and Canadian a woman's handbag
- anything resembling a small bag or pouch in form or function
- wealth; funds
- a sum of money that is offered, esp as a prize
- (tr) to contract (the mouth, lips, etc) into a small rounded shape
Word Origin for purse
Word Origin and History for pursed
purse
Old English pursa "little bag made of leather," especially for carrying money, from Medieval Latin bursa "leather purse" (source also of Old French borse, 12c., Modern French bourse; cf. bourse), from Late Latin bursa, variant of byrsa "hide," from Greek byrsa "hide, leather." Change of b- to p- perhaps by influence of Old English pusa, Old Norse posi "bag."
Meaning "woman's handbag" is attested from 1951. Meaning "sum of money collected as a prize in a race, etc.," is from 1640s. Purse-strings, figurative for "control of money," is from early 15c. Purse-snatcher first attested 1902 (earlier purse-picker, 1540s). The notion of "drawn together by a thong" also is behind purse-net (c.1400).
purse
c.1300, "put in a purse;" c.1600 as "draw together and wrinkle" (as the strings of a money bag), from purse (n.). Related: Pursed; pursing.
Idioms and Phrases with pursed
purse
In addition to the idiom beginning with purse
- purse strings
also see:
- can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear